“Maybe it's better this way,” Eola said, mind racing as to how to play this. “Means when he's sober, we can send him after Liriel, and if he's not officially King, if he's taken a leave of absence from duty to sort his family woes out – yeah, that'll work. He's not a Skooma-addled mess, he just needs to focus on his family right now. If we send the ReachGuard after Liriel, that'll be an official response and the Embassy will get involved and cite it as official harrassment of their citizens, of which Liriel still is one. But if it's just a husband going after his wife, well, that's a personal matter and nothing to do with the government of the Reach. When he's done with that, we can have him back, get him into the Skooma addict treatment programme and start negotiating his return to power, right?”
“We can indeed,” Nepos said, relieved. “I knew you'd get it. Come on, Regent, I need to send word to Uraccen and get Keirine down here.”
“What's going to happen to Daddy?” Lucia said, clutching plaintively at Eola. “Will he be all right? And Mama, what about her?”
The door flung open and Borkul returned at the head of a small team of Forsworn healers, the leader of which took one look at Madanach and shook her head in despair.
“Of all the people... you know, I honestly thought he'd beaten it. Thought he'd survived all that time taking it without getting addicted. He's always seemed so functional and on top of it all. Crazy but he was always crazy from what Bothela tells me. Steward, Princess, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, this isn't going to be pretty.”
“Come on,” Eola said softly, leading Lucia away after Nepos. “The healers are going to make him all better again, and then he's going to find Liriel for us. In the mean time you can stay with me and help me run court, yeah? I don't have any kids, so I guess that makes you next in line, hey? Nepos, can you get Sissel in here too? Need to tell her what happened and they both need extra guards watching them now.”
“Of course, but Lucia as heir? She's not royal by blood, not even a Reachwoman,” Nepos said, sounding a little dubious.
“Da wasn't royal by blood either, his father was a smelter-worker,” Eola said, arm around Lucia's shoulders and good heavens, the girl was nearly as tall as her now, what were they feeding her? “I don't have any kids, I don't have any other blood siblings but Argis and he's a Nord. The only other heir would be my consort, and are you seriously suggesting Cicero as potential King?”
“Of course not,” Nepos shuddered. “Fine, Lucia as your heir it is, not that I'm expecting you to die soon.”
Unless her father killed them all for this, of course. Eola certainly wasn't sure he'd still love her the same after she'd just helped dethrone him... but after seeing her all-powerful, all-conquering battlemage warrior of a father off his face on Skooma, she wasn't sure she'd ever feel the same about him either.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took nearly an hour but the healers worked their magic and the potions did what they were supposed to. Madanach finally emerged from the pool in his bedroom shaking, pale, feeling dreadful but back in the real world again.
“Back with us, boss?” Borkul asked gently, patting him on the back as Madanach finally finished towelling himself off and hauled his Forsworn armour on, his robes off for cleaning.
“That was horrific,” Madanach growled. “Don't sit there looking sympathetic, you let them do it! I told you not to let anyone in!”
“Yeah, that was before I knew you were gonna be in here shooting the moons!” Borkul snapped, arms folded as he glared down at his king. “Boss, I'm really disappointed in you. We all looked up to you, you know? Thought you were the strong one. That you'd actually done it, beaten the cravings on your own. Now look at you.”
“Yeah, well I never asked you to treat me like a god!” Madanach snarled, rounding on him with eyes still bloodshot from the Skooma. “I'm just a man, Borkul, same as any other. And I wasn't alone, I had a war to fight, I had Kaie and I had Liriel. Now I don't have any of that, do I?”
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Thicker Than Blood 8.8
Date: 2014-02-23 09:08 pm (UTC)“We can indeed,” Nepos said, relieved. “I knew you'd get it. Come on, Regent, I need to send word to Uraccen and get Keirine down here.”
“What's going to happen to Daddy?” Lucia said, clutching plaintively at Eola. “Will he be all right? And Mama, what about her?”
The door flung open and Borkul returned at the head of a small team of Forsworn healers, the leader of which took one look at Madanach and shook her head in despair.
“Of all the people... you know, I honestly thought he'd beaten it. Thought he'd survived all that time taking it without getting addicted. He's always seemed so functional and on top of it all. Crazy but he was always crazy from what Bothela tells me. Steward, Princess, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, this isn't going to be pretty.”
“Come on,” Eola said softly, leading Lucia away after Nepos. “The healers are going to make him all better again, and then he's going to find Liriel for us. In the mean time you can stay with me and help me run court, yeah? I don't have any kids, so I guess that makes you next in line, hey? Nepos, can you get Sissel in here too? Need to tell her what happened and they both need extra guards watching them now.”
“Of course, but Lucia as heir? She's not royal by blood, not even a Reachwoman,” Nepos said, sounding a little dubious.
“Da wasn't royal by blood either, his father was a smelter-worker,” Eola said, arm around Lucia's shoulders and good heavens, the girl was nearly as tall as her now, what were they feeding her? “I don't have any kids, I don't have any other blood siblings but Argis and he's a Nord. The only other heir would be my consort, and are you seriously suggesting Cicero as potential King?”
“Of course not,” Nepos shuddered. “Fine, Lucia as your heir it is, not that I'm expecting you to die soon.”
Unless her father killed them all for this, of course. Eola certainly wasn't sure he'd still love her the same after she'd just helped dethrone him... but after seeing her all-powerful, all-conquering battlemage warrior of a father off his face on Skooma, she wasn't sure she'd ever feel the same about him either.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took nearly an hour but the healers worked their magic and the potions did what they were supposed to. Madanach finally emerged from the pool in his bedroom shaking, pale, feeling dreadful but back in the real world again.
“Back with us, boss?” Borkul asked gently, patting him on the back as Madanach finally finished towelling himself off and hauled his Forsworn armour on, his robes off for cleaning.
“That was horrific,” Madanach growled. “Don't sit there looking sympathetic, you let them do it! I told you not to let anyone in!”
“Yeah, that was before I knew you were gonna be in here shooting the moons!” Borkul snapped, arms folded as he glared down at his king. “Boss, I'm really disappointed in you. We all looked up to you, you know? Thought you were the strong one. That you'd actually done it, beaten the cravings on your own. Now look at you.”
“Yeah, well I never asked you to treat me like a god!” Madanach snarled, rounding on him with eyes still bloodshot from the Skooma. “I'm just a man, Borkul, same as any other. And I wasn't alone, I had a war to fight, I had Kaie and I had Liriel. Now I don't have any of that, do I?”